Running your own Counter-Strike 2 server gives you complete freedom over the gameplay experience, but manually swapping maps after every match can quickly break the action. Setting up an automated map cycle ensures your server seamlessly transitions between iconic competitive battlegrounds, fast-paced Arms Race arenas, and custom workshop favorites without any admin intervention. In this quick Apex Hosting guide, we’ll show you how to set up a map cycle on your CS2 server 👏
Creating a Map Cycle
- Head towards your Apex server panel and stop the server.
- Navigate to
File Management > FTP File Accesson the left.
- Enter the
…/game/csgodirectory. - Right-click
csgoand selectNew File.
- Name it “mapcycle.txt” and click
Create File.
- Locate it, then double-click it to open the editor.
- Begin entering the Map IDs you want in rotation.
- When you’re finished, click
Saveat the bottom. - Return to the main panel and start up the server.
CS2 Map IDs
| Map Name | Map ID | Game Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient | de_ancient | Defusal |
| Anubis | de_anubis | Defusal |
| Dust II | de_dust2 | Defusal |
| Inferno | de_inferno | Defusal |
| Mirage | de_mirage | Defusal |
| Nuke | de_nuke | Defusal |
| Overpass | de_overpass | Defusal |
| Train | de_train | Defusal |
| Vertigo | de_vertigo | Defusal |
| Mills | de_mills | Defusal |
| Thera | de_thera | Defusal |
| Office | cs_office | Hostage |
| Italy | cs_italy | Hostage |
| Baggage | ar_baggage | Arms Race |
| Shoots | ar_shoots | Arms Race |
Map Cycles in Counter-Strike 2
Having a seamless way to rotate maps around in your CS2 server is the simpliest ways to maintain player momentum. No one wants to play on the same map over and over again. Once you edit the map cycle file, the matches will loop through the list without any admin commands. You can always return to this file and make changes at any time to re-order the maps.
